Bed-pan.



No. 780,987. PATENTED JAN. 31,1905; v

' G. E.-GORHAM.

BED PAN.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 5. 1904.

1155555 I I lnvEnE? [UNITED STATES Patentedianuary 31, 1905 I PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE ELMER GORHAM, oF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

BED-PAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.2 780,987, dated January 31, 1905.

' Application filed May 5, 1904. $e1ial1lb. 206,450. I I

To (ZZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE ELMER GoRHAM.

v a citizen of the United States of America, and

a resident of the city and county of Albany, State of New .York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bed-Pans, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bed and douche pans; and the object of my invention is to proings, in whicl Figure 1 is a front elevation; Fig. 2, a perspective View; Fig. 3, a plan; Fig. 4, a side elevation. Fig. 5 is a perspective of a modified form of my invention; Fig. 6, a plan of modified form shown in perspective in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a perspective of a second modified form, and Fig. 8 is a plan of the modified form shown in Fig. 7

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

When a patient is lying'upon his back, the most dependent portion of the hips is-the sacrum or the lower end of the backbone, upon which are several bony prominences only thinly covered by skin and fat. All bed-pans and douche-pans heretofore constructed are planned to slide directly under these bony prominences, leaving the weight of the hips to press them severely against the hard bed-pan, often causing bed-sores and always sources of great discomfort to the patient.

It is a fact that when a patient is lying upon the back the anus is some two inches above the surface of the bed, and all that is required is to have a bed-pan the edge of which shall pass just under and back of the anus, thereby avoiding the great discomfort which patients have to endure with the ordinary bed-pan. The peculiar construction of the pan which enables me to do this and which I desire to protect by a patent is as follows:

I'preferably construct an extra-wide pan A some twelve or fourteen inches in width, the

back end of which or the end designed to go 1 under the patient bifurcates, running back in two wings and I), sufficiently separated to escape the bony prominences of the lower end of the spine and sufficiently elevated and so curved 'as to allow the buttocks to fit com-,

In the modified form of my invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6 I carry out this same principle of sliding the pan under the buttocks and allow it to carry the edge of the pan just back of the anus; but in this pan I have but one wing, G, on the side of the pan to be brought in contact with the patient, it being designed to be used where one leg cannot be flexed, as in case of fracture or diseased hip joint. This I accomplish by sliding under one buttock only, using, as it were, a half of the original pan.

I may construct the right and left wings G and H at each end of the pan, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, or put on the pan but one wing, as desired. Afurther modified form of my invention is shown in Figs. 7 and8, which is adapted for use when the patient lies on the side only. This pan is provided with the curved downwardly and outwardly portion J, arranged to slide under the buttock and back of the anus without materially elevating the hip or going beneath the bony prominences to cause discomfort to the patient.

For a douche-pan my bed-pan is of special convenience, for, the wings, which are separated from the bottom of the pan, except around their outside edges, constitutea receptacle in themselves which will hold from one to two quarts of water, according to the size of the pan, independent of what the pan properwill hold.

One of the great advantages of my pan is that it is so constructed, the wing or wings extending beneath the thigh, that the weight of the body on the pan will be applied to the center of the pan-that is, about midway between the extreme endsand thus prevent the pan from tipping or spilling.

What 1 claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A bed-pan provided on one end with a bifurcated portion extending downward and backward from the top of said pan, forming two wings adapted to be inserted beneath the buttocks, substantially as described.

2. A bed-pan consisting of an open portion and a covered portion; said covered portion bifurcated and projecting downwardly and away from the open portion of the pan, said projecting portion adapted to be inserted beneath the buttocks, substantially as described.

3. A bed-pan consisting of an open portion and a covered projecting portion; said projecting portion provided with two slightlyseparated rests for the buttocks, and said rests elevated so as to prevent the projecting portion of the pan from engaging the lower end of the spine.

4. A bed-pan consisting of an open portion and a covered portion; said covered portion bifurcated and projecting downwardly and away from the open portion of the pan; said projecting portion adapted to be inserted beneath the buttocks; with handles for permitting the patient to draw the bed-pan closely to him.

5,. A bed-pan consisting of an open portion and a covered projecting portion; said projecting portion extending downward and backward from the top of said pan, forming two inclined surfaces slightly separated from each other, thinner at their ends farthest from the pan proper, adapted to pass beneath the buttocks, and forming a rest therefor without interfering with the sacrum; said 1n'ojecting portion of sufficientlength to cause the weight on the pan to come at or near the center, preventing tipping the same.

Signed at Albany, New York, this 29th day of April, 1904:.

GEORGE ELMER GORHAM. Witnesses:

FREDERICK W. CAMERON, LOTTIE PRIOR. 

